Teintée Africaine: The Seed

Growing up as a francophone in (East and West) Africa, my preferred choice music was rap. American rap since that was the reference; French rap because I could understand it; and French African rap because it was there afterall. Back then, the US set the tone in terms of style and sounds and it trickled down to the rest of the world. While the center of hip-hop innovation moved downwards from NY to ATL, the Africans also went from simply mimicking to melding elements characterstic of hip-hop with those from our heritage of music. The resulting sounds have spilled over to the West and French urban music in particular. I had rushed this selection for the first edition of Teintée Africaine, but we got to delve farther and further in subsequent entries in this series.

The Stats

One Playlist
25 Songs
35 Artist and Groups
13 Countries Represented

The Playlist

Author
Recent Posts

Hewa Yasin

I wrote as kid. (I'd die if you'd ever get your hands on those poems.) And I wrote as a teen. (We thought our raps would spearhead revolution.) I write these days to share my joys and perspectives. I am as subjective as they come. I found a bunch of blessed souls that are just as expressive. And Africa is all the better for it. (I think I never really changed.)